Zombie Haiku

In anticipation of my zombie movie nearing completion, I’ve got a whole bunch of wonderful zombie-related posts for you.  The first is this brilliant little video featuring a zombie reciting haiku poems about eating brains while another zombie plays the saxophone.

ht to Boing Boing

Film #10: The Shoot

From the beginning of 12 Films in 12 Months, I knew that I wanted to make a horror movie in October for my tenth short film.  I wasn’t sure what kind of horror film I was going to do at first, but I felt like October (with Halloween and all) was a good month to plan a horror film.  I ultimately landed on doing a zombie movie and because it’s a classic, fun horror genre that I knew would be possible on a low budget and fun to shoot.

Well October turned out to be a very busy month, both for me and for some of the other people involved in the film and the shoot got pushed back to mid-November.  So about two weeks ago, we all got together and finally made a zombie movie!

One of the things that made this zombie movie work (and even in a way possible) is the fact that my wife and I bought a house at the start of October.  There are a couple of rooms that are kind of quirky and unfinished and I knew they would work great as a setting for a zombie chase/attack.  Plus, I set the story in the home of a couple that just moved in, so it was acceptable that we still have some unpacked boxes laying around.  Of course, I added a few in other rooms to give the effect that they had just moved in.  All in all, our house ended up being the perfect set for the film.

The other thing that made the movie work was having zombie make-up.  As I was trying to figure out what to do about getting some good zombie make-up, I started Googling “zombie make-up” and found different bits of advice like this or this or even this.  Fortunately, in the lead-up to the shoot, I was talking with my brother and he mentioned a friend of his who does make-up and has always wanted to do zombie make-up.  I got in touch with Bird (the make-up artist), and she was stoked to be part of it.  The day of the shoot she showed up with a massive make-up and airbrush kit that she wheeled in and pretty much took over the dining room with.  It was fantastic.  As you can see by some of the photos I put on Flickr, she did a phenominal job.

The shoot itself went really smoothly.  We had a pretty tight schedule to keep and everyone worked really hard and did a great job.  That tight schedule, combined with the fact that I wanted a lot of freedom of movement with the camera and a somewhat shaky, kinetic visual style led me to shoot the entire film hand-held.  It allowed us to move from shot to shot and set-up to set-up very quickly.

I’ve had a chance to look through all the footage and I have a good, solid cut put together at this point.  I’m in the middle of the sound design (which is going to be so important to adding suspense and tension to the film).  Watch for the film to release in the next few days!

Film #9: The Shoot

For the ninth film, I made a film noir mashed with some kung fu elements.  The shoot itself happened nearly two months ago at the end of September (which is when this film was originally slated to be produced and released).  But of course, here we are, closing in on the end of November, and the film is finally nearing completion.

One of the main things I focused on during planning and production was lighting.  Film noir is known for being full of shadows and all sorts of contrast between light and darkness (both visually as well as thematically).  So I knew going into the production that I couldn’t just turn on all the lights in the room, light everything evenly, and still get the right look for the genre.  I also knew that I would be turning all the footage to black and white in post-production so as I shot I was more concerned with exposure and shadows then I was with color.

We got together in the early evening and shot everything that night.  I was able to run a single light through the ceiling panels in the storage room we were shooting in so that when I turned it on and combined it with some fill lighting in the background, I got a lot of great hard shadows and silhouettes.  The main scene in the film is something of an interogation scene, so having the single overhead light fit the mood I wanted to create.

Fox Clark (who’s been in couple of my other films this year) played the lead, with Will Dick playing the main villain and Allison Welch playing the character of a femme fatale.  I’ve uploaded some pictures (wonderfully shot by Chris Davis) from the shoot on Flickr here.

Update on Films 9, 10, & 11

It’s been quite a busy Fall so far.  I got back from working the second National Youth Workers Convention for YS two weeks ago and now, as I write this, I’m on my way to Nashville for the third.  Although the busyness has slowed the release of my monthly films, it hasn’t stopped production.

In regards to Film #9, I’m close to picture-lock and I’m getting started on the sound design and soundtrack.  I’m still trying to balance the blending of film noir and kung-fu.  The  sequence that’s been giving me the most trouble has been a fist-fight that we shot.  As it stands in editing, it doesn’t have the right rhythm and pacing yet.  It lacks momentum.  Other then that, the other main challenge is to find/create a soundtrack that can evoke both genres.

At the same time, I’ve also been working on Film #10.  I have wanted to do a horror movie and more specifically, a zombie movie since I started this project and I decided that October would be the perfect month to dive into the horror genre (October being the month that this film was originally slated to be produced).  Well, we shot it this last weekend and I’m seriously excited to get it put together and share it with you.

Finally, I’m starting into pre-production on Film #11.  This month’s film is a sci-fi thriller based on story by my wife, Christina.  It’s a story idea she passed by me before I even started 12 Films in 12 Months and I’m stoked to include it in the project.

Well, there you have it.  That’s the current state of the remaining films for the year.  I have six weeks exactly until the project is completed and I’m ready to kick into high gear and finish it well.

Film Noir

As I’ve mentioned, this month I’m working in the genre of film noir.  Film Noir, french for “black film” is a cinematic term used to describe films that are characterized by violence, moral ambiguity, shadowy lighting and shadowy characters.  The majority of the classic Hollywood film noir films were produced in the 1940’s and 1950’s, were often shot in black and white, and filled with hard shadows and light to create mood.

Roger Ebert wrote a fantastic, short guide to film noir here.  I love his last point.  He describes film noir as:

The most American film genre, because no society could have created a world so filled with doom, fate, fear and betrayal, unless it were essentially naive and optimistic.

Film #9: Update 2

Just under a month ago I posted about shooting Film #9 and since then, nothing.  So I’m back after a bit of a hiatus to fill you in on all that’s been going on and where the film is at and what’s coming up for the next film.

Well we did indeed shoot Film #9 on Sept. 30 and the shoot went well.  It went longer then expected, but everyone involved was very gracious and stuck it out.  Everyone did a fantastic job and I got some great footage.  The next day I shifted gears and put the editing of the film on hold.  My wife and I were in the process of buying a house and escrow closed at the end of that week.  So I spent the next few days after the shoot working like crazy at my job at YS (prepping media for our conventions this fall) and joining my wife in packing up our apartment.

We moved into the new house that weekend and then three days later we were both on a plane on our way to Sacramento for the first National Youth Workers Convention.  For the next week, I was working non-stop at the convention creating, modifying, and running media for the general sessions (which is what I do at YS in terms of our events).  I shot and edited a couple of short videos that we showed over the weekend and after we wrap the third convention in November, I’ll put them up here as well.

Since getting back to San Diego, we got a little more settled into our house, I’ve been prepping for the next YS convention in Pittsburgh next week, and now I’m diving back into finishing these 12 films before the year’s end.

I’m in the middle of editing Film #9 as well as planning the shoot for Film #10.  #9 is coming together well and I think the Film Noir and Kung Fu are going to play nice together.  I can’t wait to play with the sound design on this one as it has a good amount of voice over and sound effects and I think it could be really fun.

#10 is going to be a zombie movie!  I’ve been looking forward to this one since I started this project.  We’re planning on shooting it in two weeks and I want to make sure everything gets set for it because I think that it could be great.  Stay tuned for more.

Film #9 – Update

Sorry for the blog silence as of late.  It has been a very busy month in my life personally and professionally and I haven’t been able to carve out as much time to post as I would have liked.  With the Film Festival last weekend and a high volume of work at my full-time job, not to mention the excitement and anticipation of buying a new house, this month has rushed by.

As far as Film #9 goes, I’m still moving forward and in fact, I’m shooting it tonight.  So, it should be no big surprise that since I’m only shooting the film tonight, it won’t be completed by the end of September (since today happens to be the end of September).  But, my goal is to have it finished and completed within a week or so.  I’ll definitely post updates and a more exact release date as I get into editing the film.

I’m very excited for this month’s film.  I’m trying to make a film that fits into the genre of Film Noir while playing with it a bit and mashing in some elements from other genres, namely Kung Fu.  I’m still somewhat aprehensive about how well they’ll combine and whether they can play well with each other.  But, making it work is part of the fun of trying it in the first place.  I’ll let you know how the shoot goes tonight!

SDFF Screenings

As I’ve mentioned, Mystery Box is screening this Thursday, September 25th at 5:00pm and then Friday, September 26th at Noon at the San Diego Film Festival.  If you’re planning on coming to either of the showings, let me know in the comments and I’ll be sure to look for you down there.  Also, if you’re coming to the Thursday night screening and feel like some dessert, we’ll be heading over to Ghiradelli on 5th Avenue afterwards.  See you at the festival!